Tata Steel sale "needs government help"

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Reuters

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Port Talbot is Tata Steel’s biggest UK plant with about 4,000 workers

Tata Steel UK’s chief executive said the government needed to do more to help it find a buyer.

Bimlendra Jha told MPs on the Business select committee that a sale would not happen unless the pension fund deficit was addressed.

Although there was no set deadline for a sale, Tata could not continue to “bleed” indefinitely, he said.

The company was not prepared to split up its UK steel assets to secure a sale.

“We would not deal with … somebody saying leave alone Port Talbot and give us the rest – that is not a solution that’s acceptable,” Mr Jha said.

He blamed the sale on “structural weaknesses” in the UK, such as high energy costs and business rates.

“If we were at the same electricity costs as Germany , then [Tata Steel UK] would be £40m better off – we would not be having negative numbers,” Mr Jha told MPs.

“We would not be selling the business if we were not losing money”

David Cameron visited the Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales on Tuesday in a bid to assure workers of the Government’s commitment to support the plant’s future.

The UK government has said it would consider taking a stake in Tata Steel UK.

Stuart Wilkie, Tata Steel UK’s director at Port Talbot and Llanwern, is working on plans for a management buyout.

Downing Street said the government was doing all it could to secure a “sustainable future” for the plant.

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